It’s been a while.

But, it’s happening again.  And, this time, it’s not the action of a lazy individual or a ne’er do well. (Actually, in my [much less than] humble opinion, it is due to the action of a ne’er do well.  But, we’ll get there soon enough.)

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you recognize that I read an awful lot.  (I manage to do a fair amount of other things, too.)  And, while I don’t still get hundreds of journals a week (or read manifold Current Contents that detail the tables of content for hundreds of journals a week), I still receive some 100 journals a month.  So, it shouldn’t surprise you that I have good friends in the local post office.

Some 6 years ago, I reported about two problems we had with the postal service.  One was our local mailman, who decided that he could skip delivering to our office two or three times a week.  Which really hurt our growing company, since we needed those checks- our life’s blood- to let us continue growing our (then) company by 200% a quarter.

When we complained to the post office, we got nowhere.  We went to our Congressperson.  What a waste that was.  (Now, you know why I was never a fan of Jim Moran.  But, this was only one of the smaller reasons.)

We went to our senator.  John Warner- one who clearly knew I was a devotee of the opposite political party and with politics contra to his.  But, he performed for his constituents.  He got the lazy postman fired and also got the local post office to provide us with a free PO Box.  (It turns out that our proper choice is actually a postal drawer- not a box, since our mail volume clearly overwhelms a box.)

The other incident involved a criminal postal employee who simply dropped off a certified letter to the complex of my client (I was serving as CFO)- not to our mail box, not with a signature.  (The criminal actually SIGNED the receipt for us, as if we were legally notified.)  In that case when we complained to the post office, we were informed that “administrative action will be administered to the carrier”.  You can’t make BS like that up!

Now, to the pandemic.

I have been noticing that my mail at home is dribbling in.  I get weekly newspapers- one that is printed for delivery on Wednesday, another for Thursday, and the third for Friday.  Since May, they no longer arrive as expected.  Sometimes, I get three on Saturday, sometime two on Friday with the third coming Monday.

That alone is annoying.  But, the key point is that mail is only being delivered to my house thrice a week- not six, as the rules obtain.  And, it turns out I am not alone.

When I accosted the carrier, he informed me that he is no longer allowed to work overtime.  And, given that he has a vast area in his delivery service area, he is not taking the mail for his route every day.

(You might recall that there was a concept afoot back in 2014 to have the post office eliminate one day of delivery a week to save money.  That officially went nowhere, as our other government agencies do their darnedest to starve the postal service of money.  [You don’t get refund checks from the IRS any more- nor do you get the 1040 booklet the day after Christmas any more. And, the IRS frowns upon mail delivered tax returns.  Nor does the Social Security Administration mail your benefit check.])

Well, it turns out that the hack TheDonald imposed as the Postmaster General (Louis DeJoy) [his qualifications as Postmaster General? he was TheDonald’s fundraiser] has been subverting the mission of the Postal Service.

Yes, DeJoy is attempting to cut costs.  By not having carriers sort all their mail before leaving for delivery.  Instead, they leave at a set time- mail sorting be damned.  And, they don’t go back out when they return to deliver the late sorted mail.   (You do recall how the Postal Service had these maps for delivery service times?  Which places would get delivery in two days [down from one], three days, or four?  They no longer apply.)

Another of his savings concepts?  Turning off the mail sorting machines early in the day.  So that mail isn’t sorted properly.

Why would this be done?

Well, you’ve heard TheDonald.  You’ve probably seen his tweets.

The goal is to subvert the ability of states to have us vote by mail. Because the mail won’t be delivered in time to have our votes counted.  And, as if that weren’t enough of a deterrent, the very fact that mail isn’t being delivered in a timely fashion means we will lose faith in the integrity of the system.

So- I suggest that everyone mail their ballots in October.  By the 26^th of October.  Before Halloween. To ensure the timely delivery of our ballots.

Oh- and I’m sure your votes won’t include an assent for the perpetrator of this crime.  The ne’er do well, indeed!